On the islands where children stay in Reception and Identification Centres as well as in Pre-removal Detention Centres for Foreigners, access to schools in the local community is almost non-existent1. Moreover, serious delays and obstacles have been observed, resulting in a huge gap between the number of enrolled children and the children that actually attend school.
Nevertheless, the situation is equally worrying in the refugee camps on the mainland. Ιn some places the issues observed have to do with inconsistent interpretation of COVID-19 related movement restriction policies by the Greek authorities, which ends up discriminating against children who, as a result, are not being allowed to leave these camps. At the same time, during the lockdowns, due to the lack of necessary technical infrastructure for online learning at the camps, refugee and asylum seeking children are further excluded from the education process.
Open Letter: “All Children Have The Right To Go To School. Do Not Take That Away From Them”
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